From a Southern Baptist heritage, to the bosom of the original Christian Church, this BLOG is one man's COMMENTARY on his continuing Journey To Orthodoxy.

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Wednesday, August 05, 2009

A Convert Of The Doctrine of "Once Saved, Always Saved"

"Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell," Sodini apparently wrote, before adding later, "I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them."

If the doctrine of "Once Saved, Always Saved" is true then the words of this murderer are true and he is now in heaven enjoying the rewards of paradise. Of course, not being able to rationalize the fact that this man, George Sodini, walked into a Pennsylvania gym and shot dead four women and wounded 10 others then killing himself, proponents of this Protestant, mainly Baptist, doctrine will quickly say, "Well he wasn't saved to begin with." How convenient.

"Many believe that once they have made an Altar Call (Profession of Faith) that they are assured of Heaven. Those who have such a belief should carefully examine the following Bible passages."

Saint Paul: "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." KJV - Romans 11:22

Saint Paul: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. KJV - 1 Cor. 9:26-27

Saint Paul: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." KJV - 2 Cor. 5:10

Saint Paul: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." KJV - Philip. 2:12

1st Corinthians 15:2 states, that vain is the belief of those who go against the word of God.

1st John 1:6 states, "If we say, "We have fellowship with `Jesus'," while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie & do not act in truth.

1st John 2:15 & 16 - If anyone loves sensual lust, enticements of the eyes, or a pretentious life, the love of God the Father is not in him.

1st John 3:9 & 15 says, "No one begotten by God commits sin", & "that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him".begotten: used in the sense of having been acquired by, permanently committed too.

Romans 8:7-8 "For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

Hebrews 10:26-29 "If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins but a fearful prospect of judgment and a flaming fire that is going to consume the adversaries. Anyone who rejects the law of Moses is put to death without pity on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Do you not think that a much worse punishment is due the one who has contempt for the Son of God, considers unclean the covenant-blood by which he was consecrated, and insults the spirit of grace?"

2 Peter 2:20-21 "For if they, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of (our) Lord and savior Jesus Christ, again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition is worse than their first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment handed down to them."

Hebrews 4:6-7 "Therefore, since it remains that some will enter into it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, he once more set a day, "today," when long afterwards he spoke through David, as already quoted: "Oh, that today you would hear his voice: 'Harden not your hearts.' "

Hebrews 6:4-6 "For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and shared in the holy Spirit and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to bring them to repentance again, since they are recrucifying the Son of God for themselves and holding him up to contempt."

Hebrews 4:2 "For in fact we have received the good news just as they did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened."

Hebrews 12:4-13 "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards. Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not (then) submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed."

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Nathan Lee Lewis

BIO

JTO Blog Editor, Nathan Lee Lewis, has a BA in Radio, TV, Film from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is a former news and talk show producer for a local CBS affiliate. He is an award-winning writer, having received a First Place Award for Radio Special Feature from Arkansas Associated Press. He is also the recipient of a Gold Addy from the American Advertising Federation given for Communication Excellence. He is the former Executive Producer of Rocky Top Pictures LLC, an independent film and television production company located in Nashville, Tennessee. Nathan is a certified Feature Film Producer, Line Producer, and Cinema Director through the Hollywood Film Institute. Prior to entering the Orthodox Church in 2005, he was a licenced and ordained Southern Baptist Minister and earned a B.A. in Religion/Pastoral Ministries from Quachita Baptist University. He subsequently completed one year of seminary at Saint Michael's Seminary (ICCEC). He has served on the clergy staff of seven churches. Since becoming Orthodox, he has served as a Reader in the Eastern Rite and a Cantor in the Western Rite. He and his wife, Xanthia, have been married for 38 years and have five daughters and seven grandchildren. Nathan is currently assisting a mission start-up in the Nashville area under Metropolitan Hillarian of the ROCOR. He has owned and independently operated the Journey To Orthodoxy Blog since 2006.